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Archive for March, 2009

Junior 2nd Black Test / Red Black Test

Monday, March 16th, 2009

Earlier this year, we added

JUNIOR 2ND BLACK BELT to our curriculum.  The material needed for this belt should take 12-18 months; besides learning 19 techniques and 1 form, the student must spend time teaching other students and assisting other instructors and must become better at all the Junior material.

Saturday, Sammy de la Garza tested for Junior 2nd Black and became the first student to get there. Check out our FACEBOOK page (PowerKenpo - American Kenpo Karate!) for video.

Also testing - Sarah Bourestom tested for Junior Red Black. Forms, techniques, and, of course, lots of sparring. What makes Sarah’s test particularly impressive is that everyone she sparred against was a Junior Black Belt, and she excelled and controlled the floor even during the 3-on-1 and 4-on-1 sparring sessions.

Congratulations to both students - and we’re looking forward to Sarah’s Black Belt test this fall.

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Lots of review and repetition this week!

Thursday, March 12th, 2009

We’ve been doing a lot of review this week. Coming off testing week, it’s a good time to go back to basics, make the stances sharper, make the kicks faster, make the techniques flow better.

I’m becoming a big fan of repetition. Doing 200 front kicks can be tiring; it can be painful; you might feel them for days. But when you can get to the end and the 200th or 300th kick is better than the 1st kick was, then you’ve accomplished something.

Repeating basics is one thing; repeating forms, another. In my lead-up to 4th Black, I would go to Arbor Hills, get out of the car, and do Form 6 and my extensions for half an hour or an hour, then run, then cool down for another 30-40 minutes with more forms and extensions. Doing the forms in the cold, the wind, the rain, then running, then doing them again when  my body was tired, burned them in and took me to another level.

So expect more repetition in class. Expect to do a form 10 times in a row. Expect 300 back kicks or 500 hand strikes. It’s OK if it hurts - because we need to learn to soften the body, relax the muscles, and dissolve the pain to get to the next level.

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Monday!

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009

Good day of classes today!  We have 13 kids signed up at Carrollton Montessori Dickerson; we had a great class, covering lots of basics, yellow and orange material. Reviewed HAND STRIKES, KICKS, BLOCKS, STANCES, FOOT MANEUVERS. Also, I hit them all pretty had with a big ball, working on confidence and control.  More of the same a few minutes later at Primrose West Carrollton, where 9 kids are enrolled.

Back at the studio, classes were small. The good news, for those that showed up, was that they got lots of one-on-one attention and lots of details on the material needed for the next belt.  Then a good group of Juniors, followed by our BASIC SELF DEFENSE class for Monday, and then a private class with a new adult who joined today.

A major theme today was the importance of controlling HEIGHT, WIDTH, AND DEPTH. Every technique we have works on those three things - and when we start thinking about them, we can make the techniques even more powerful.

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Black Belt Test at Rick Fowler’s Kenpo

Sunday, March 1st, 2009

After morning classes, I went to Rick Fowler’s to sit on the promotion board for a Black Belt Test.  One adult testing for 4th Black, 1 Adult testing for 2nd Black, and 5 Juniors testing for Junior Black.  It was a good test - forms were sharp, techniques were good, and sparring was enthusiastic.

There are a lot of philosophies of testing - some schools make testing incredible hard, to the point where gaining a Black Belt ceases to be a realistic goal for all but a few students. Others promote regardless of skill level, based on time in class.  If you read the Journey, there were many times when Ed Parker would show up at a studio, promote someone to Black Belt, and sometimes toss them the keys to open in the morning.  He didn’t need to make the test a huge production because he knew the student - and he knew what they could do.

We treat tests the same way; it’s an opportunity for the candidate to show everyone what he or she can do. It’s his or her chance to demonstrate abilities, and he or she definitely does not want to be at the bottom of the curve. In the end, though, your instructor knows if you’ve got what it takes, and the test is a formality. If you hadn’t already made yourself into a Black Belt by years of training, you wouldn’t be on the mat testing. We’re there to recognize you for your work and your effort, and to welcome a new Black Belt into the Brotherhood.

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